


Covert Oops

by eccentric_kittens



Series: Headcanon LGBTQUI Characters Being Accepted When They Come Out [2]
Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Coming Out, I always write toby much nicer than he actually is sometimes, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Poly!Happy, Poly!Sylvester, Poly!Toby, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Self-Acceptance, Self-Denial, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Sexual Confusion, Sexual Experimentation, Sylvester is so cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-07 06:58:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15213680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eccentric_kittens/pseuds/eccentric_kittens
Summary: Sylvester has a private life, of course Toby has to investigate. We'll see where it goes from there :Dspoiler: gayness. poly gayness.(it says it's part of a series, but as you can see, each fic is not related and you dont need to read them all to understand, it's just headcanon lgbtq+ characters coming out/discovering themselves)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So originally this was just going to be Sylvester realising he likes guys and starts sleeping around, and the rest of the team can't figure it out because he's so pure.
> 
> But I started writing and Toby/Sylvester just happened all by itself as I carried on writing. I actually like it this way a lot more tbh. enjoy! leave a comment!

"C'mon, Sly, what is it? Drugs?"

"God, no, Toby, I don't have a drug problem. Let it go? Please?"

Toby sulked, sprawling in a spinning swivel chair.

"How are we torturing Sylvester today?" Paige asked, coming in with a couple of shopping bags.

"We're violating the sanctity of my private personal life," Sylvester called, shooting an accusatory glare at Toby.

Paige snorted. "What else is new."

"You've been displaying classic markers of deception, paranoia and anxiety localised to questions about your activities outside of work. Excuse me for being curious," Toby shrugged, and Happy slugged him in the arm.

"Idiot."

"Ow? You're not curious as to where Sly sneaks off to every night, missing family dinners and movie nights, even taking a rain check on babysitting Ralph?"

Sylvester rolled his eyes, trying to stay focused on his screen. Toby should've realised by now to be honest, but Sylvester was thorough. All the signs of someone recently becoming more sexually active? He'd hidden and subverted like a pro.

To be fair, Sylvester had come out to them about a year ago, as being on the asexual spectrum. But they had just straight up accepted him, not pressing for details. If they had, they might know that being asexual doesn't mean necessarily that you can't/won't have sex. Not in Sylvester's case anyway. And when he told them about that, he sort of neglected to mention the bisexuality thing, so there was that covering for him too. 

Megan was **NOT** a beard, or a one time thing. Now that he was experimenting with men more, he reminded himself that it did **NOT** erase what he had with Megan and that she definitely was the love of his life. He believed love was something to be found as many times as possible, and held onto her memory, knowing she would have wanted him to be happy. She'd known about his identity and accepted him fully, to his delight. She was **NOT** an experiment in being straight. Affirmations he repeated to himself on a daily basis.

Cabe walking in with a lawyer and heading straight for Paige and Walter got their attention briefly, but, knowing they'd soon be on a time consuming case, Toby seized the opportunity to continue picking away at Sylvester’s secret. 

"Are you in a cult? Blink twice for yes," Toby whispered, throwing glances over his shoulders mockingly. 

Pressing his palms flat to the table and pushing himself upright, Sylvester smiled humorlessly at him and walked away to refill his tea. 

"For the last time, Toby. It is PRIVATE."

His voice didn't get any angrier, but Toby backed off. Weirdly he couldn't figure out what was going on with him, try as he might. See, Sylvester was doing well. So well. And then he slipped up. Toby watched him pouring his tea, and was  _ this close  _ to letting it go and getting on with his life. And then he saw the name of the tea. 

 

“Gotcha,” he whispered to himself. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idk what happened to the formatting, Ao3 is weird right now. Enjoy, leave a comment!

He wandered over, casually. Sylvester frowned at him, throwing the used tea bag away.

 

“What do you want, Toby?” he asked, in fairness quite politely. 

 

Toby nodded at the box of tea bags. “Imported. Fancy.”

 

Sylvester froze, mid sip. “Yeah, so?”

 

In that moment, Toby watched his words send Sylvester back, to the moment he most strongly associated with the tea. Sylvester knew he was manipulating him, but he couldn't help it. The memory presented itself. 

 

Opening his phone to a text from a guy on a dating app that he'd been flirting with all day. He was recommending this brand of tea as a “flush” method. He'd talked dirty to Sylvester, telling him how badly he wanted to fuck him, how he wanted him to be clean inside for his first time. Sylvester came right there in the garages bathroom, taking a break to reply to the messages. He'd later bought the tea, and even though he hadn't met up with the guy, and he still hadn't had his first time, just thinking of this guy made his pants tight. 

 

This flash of memory set off several easy tell-tale signs of arousal, embarrassment, and the hot flush of knowing your secret was out that Toby immediately picked up on. Red face, uneven breath, fast eyes, already stammering out an excuse or a reason or an explanation.

 

“I - uhm - oh, boy…”

 

Toby clapped him on the back, with a genuine smile. 

 

“Meet me after work, pal, okay? We gotta save the world right now, but we can talk later,” he said, and the only thing keeping Sylvester from having a full blown panic attack was Toby’s kind smile and understanding expression, he'd probably spent years perfecting that bedside manner. 

 

The warmth in the hand that stayed on his shoulder while everyone gathered around the middle of the room to hear the case? It was like someone was running their fingers through his emotions, smoothing out the creases. He didn't usually like to be touched, but he knew Toby routinely washed his hands when he thought Sly wasn't looking. To his face, he made fun, but as a mental health professional he knew how important it was to support him. So Toby’s hand was quite welcome to stay where it was. 

 

He was good at what he did. Cracking wise and staying involved in the conversation, but occasionally applying more pressure, squeezing, kneading, almost massaging the stress and tensions away. Sylvester slowly but surely relaxed, letting to of the panic that seized him as soon as he knew Toby had him figured out. 

 

But as soon as the team split to their various stations to figure out their latest global crisis, Toby’s hand and its magical powers slid off his shoulder and he felt himself plummet back into a state of stress and anxiety the likes of which he rarely reached. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

“You okay, kid? You seem a little loopy. More than usual,” Cabe commented, when it rolled round to lunchtime and they all took a break. 

“I don't like “loopy”. It's too reminiscent of all the family members who never understood me. Or never tried,” he sighed, turning away. 

“No need to be rude, kid,” Cabe sniffed, walking away. “Anyone needs me, I'll be at Kovelsky’s eating my feelings.”

Paige approached, confused. “That's not like you, Sly. Everything alright?”

Sylvester felt words swirl in his mind, but couldn't find the wherewithal to be verbal, so he just shrugged, and gesticulated randomly. He saw Paige continued confusion, looked over her shoulder to see Happy and Walter with the same expression and started to break. None of them understood. 

“Here,” Paige murmured, passing him a box of tissues. He hadn't realised he was crying. 

He didn't touch them, standing and making a beeline for the door. 

“Sylvester!” Happy called after him, but it just made his face screw up in tears more. 

“Should I…” Paige began. 

Hearing the commotion, Toby ran down the stairs from the loft. “I got this, guys. Stay here.’

He caught up to Sylvester in the parking lot. 

“Hey, hey, hey, wait up. Wanna talk now?”

Sylvester stopped, pulling up his t-shirt over his face in embarrassment.

“Come on, we can sit and talk in my car. Breathe, Sly, breathe.”

Once they were in, with the door shut, Sylvester finally let himself breathe, taking deep shuddering breaths. 

Toby’s voice got low and soft. “We don't have to talk, just - here, stop destroying that t-shirt and take a tissue.”

Sylvester let out a big breath, emerged from the shirt collar and accepted a tissue. 

“If you needed to you could have asked me to talk sooner.”

Opening his mouth to speak, Sylvester shook his head and became overwhelmed again by shaking sobs. 

“Hey, it's alright, I'm here for you. I'm ready when you are. You need contact in the meantime? Hm?”

Sylvester nodded shakily. 

And once again he was engulfed in the euphoria of Toby’s expert touch. Now wasn't the time to remind Sly of his Harvard medical training, but if it was, he'd explain that the reason it felt so good was that Toby knew the most stressed areas of his physique so it was easy to just press in the right place and allow the release of positive chemicals into his bloodstream. It was a very scientific pat on the back that made Sylvester feel safe. 

“I just wasn't ready, yknow? And I know you weren't really trying to find out, you were just bored, but, God, I just wanted one thing that was separate from work,” he got out in one big long rant, before drawing in one big breath.

Toby put his other hand on Sylvester’s chest. “Breathe, pal. You know so many breathing exercises, you've needed them ever since your first panic attack, anxiety attack, right? Come on, pick one and use it. There you go, that's good, keep going,” he encouraged, monitoring his breath and heart rate. “I'm sorry I found out. But if it makes you feel any better, I only found out because I use that tea too.”

Sylvester digested this for a second. “Wait…what?”

“That got you breathing right didn't it?”

“Well, yeah if you're implying…whatever you're implying!”

Toby rolled his eyes. “That I also engage in casual sex? And I therefore require that types of digestive aid tea? Yes I do, and before you get up on your high horse, it was all Happy’s idea and she's totally fine with it.”

“Good. Because if I found out you were cheating on her, I would have punched you,” Sylvester said, and they shared a wry smile at how ridiculous the idea was, of Sly being physically aggressive in any way. 

“It’s not cheating, it's completely above board. Besides if anything we're polyamorous. My point is I'm not going to shame you for the same thing I'm doing, so calm down.”

Sylvester looked down at his ring, ashamed. “It’s not exactly the same though, is it? Megan and I never discussed my identity fully. I didn't want her to think…”

“That she wasn't enough, because she was physically incapacitated.”

“Because she was enough, I never needed anything more than what she gave me, unconditional love. Physical love isn't something I need in order to love someone wholly.”

“I think I understand,” Toby nodded. “It's been a year now though, Sly. You're so young. She would want you to move on, emotionally, not just physically.”

Sylvester shrugged. “Could you emotionally love another person on the same level after Happy?”

That made Toby think for a moment. “Love isn't on levels, it's different with everyone. Happy is alright with me getting emotionally intimate with others too, not just physical. It's because she knows I'm poly, I would never lose feelings for her by having them for another person. She knows I would never leave her or stop loving her unless there was something actually wrong with our relationship, something toxic like abuse or lying etc. Do you understand?”

“I should let myself love another person, because it won't change how I feel about Megan?” he clarified, and when Toby nodded again, he started to smile. “That's…such a weight lifted. Thank you, Toby.”

“It's not a problem,” Toby said earnestly. “Now c’mere, can I hug you?”

It was a little awkward because of car space, but Sylvester nodded and Toby half climbed over to embrace him. Toby smiled to himself when he felt Sylvester’s body completely relax under the hug. 

“You really need to get weekly massages if your body is going to be this tense,” he commented, and Sylvester tensed back up again. 

“W - what do you mean?”

“I first noticed it this morning, your shoulder was so rigid, I hope you don't mind. I kind of gave you a mini massage.”

Sylvester flushed. “No, I, uh, it was, it helped. A lot. I can't get relaxed like that very easily.”

Toby hmm’d. He rested his head on Sylvester’s shoulder, while his hands found their way along his shoulder blades, working out some of the built up tension. He asked if it was okay and Sylvester breathed a yes, leaning forward so Toby could reach his lower back. It was a little weird, Toby basically on top of him, rubbing his back, but it felt right. The right level of intimacy. Even so, Sylvester felt compelled to return to a normal state between them so he could process everything Toby had said. 

“Thanks, Toby,” Sylvester whispered, and Toby recognised the non-verbal request for space.

“Yeah, it'd be a little weird for Paige to come looking for you and find me straddling you in my car giving you a backrub,” he said with a wink, but a smile only touched Sylvester’s expression, Toby dug deeper. “We don't have to go back, right now. We can talk more, if you need to. We sexually ambiguous need to stick together.”

Sly looked up. “Huh?”

“What, you think I needed that tea for sleeping with Happy?”

“Hey, she talks about the kind of...toys...she has all the time. I did consider you meant you were having multiple partners, but I thought you were straight, I just assumed you meant you were sleeping with someone who was trans or something.”

“You're so pure, Sylvester. Only you could misinterpret me being queer as me sleeping with a trans person. Although I have. Multiple times. Bragging aside, I can confirm I've slept with people of many genders. As Bill Nye might say, a spectrum of people have visited my gooty.”

Sylvester cringed. “Please don't try to fit your weird catchphrase into a serious conversation.”

Toby leaned in and whispered, “Gooty…”

Sylvester laughed and cringed again. “Okay, you can definitely get off me now.”

Toby slid back onto his seat. “If you say so.”

They had a nice quiet moment, each processing what the other had said through the whole conversation. 

“Since you're a doctor.”

“Ci.”

“And since you're also poly.”

“Oui.”

“And since you're not straight.”

“Da.”

“And since we already talked about a lot of it…”

“Yes, Sylvester, get to your point,” Toby pressed, knowing he was just trying to put off asking his question. 

“Will you…give me advice, if I ever need it? Specifically on this topic?”

“Of course I will,” Toby promised. “Scouts honour. Give me some kind of signal in the garage and we can talk again. Or just come over to my place. I can be your Obi Wan Gaynobi. Your Gooty Guide.”

Sylvester stared at him. “I'm leaving now.”

“C’mon, is Gooty really that bad?” he asked, also getting out of the car.

They headed back to the garage. 

“Yes,” Sylvester insisted, and Toby pouted. “If you say it one more time…”

“What, you'll hit me with a used anal sex teabag?”

“Toby.”

“What? I like teabagging, I'm into it.”

“Toby. Please.”

“I'm just saying…”

**Author's Note:**

> also, I finally got cashapp, so if you feel supporting a poor, trans artist now's your chance <3 
> 
> ~ £bendyoubreakyou ~


End file.
